Kagnew Vets E-mails Page 31

What Kagnew Vets Have to Say

George C. Reed 54-65

I and my parents, Rev. Glenn & Gail Reed, had a home in Asmara from 1954 to 1965. My parents were missionaries. I actually attended school at Kagnew Station due to the Suez Crisis of 1956 -- my brother Bill and I, through the good graces of Chaplain Ferdine, were permitted to finish out our school year at Kagnew after being evacuated from mission boarding school in Alexandria, Egypt. During subsequent summers, I would ride my bike right through the main gate as if I were a dependent and see friends I came to know through the Protestant youth group on the Post. Best friend Mike Jenks, are you out there? We lived on Via Tito Minitti (later B'yene Mer'id Street), down the street from Gola's Meat Market and not too far from "the Old Post." When I enlisted in the Army in 1968, my MOS was 26y20 and I was stationed in Landstuhl, Germany from 9/69 to 8/71 and worked at Link Terminal GLAN, which worked with Link Terminal AMAR in Gura, 24/7! I worked tech control and knew Mike Charlie ("Motorcycle"); my call sign was Golf Romeo ("Grave Robber)." I would love to hear from anyone who remembers me or those GIs to whom my parents opened our home to as "a home away from home." corningreeds "replace with at symbol" netzero.net

Ghirmai H. Meresi

Hi, I just came across the Kagnew Station site by accident. What a wonderful site!! I was neither affiliated with the Kagnew Station nor worked there but I wanted to get in touch with someone who might have known my dad. His name was Meresi Ghebremicael and worked at the American Consulate in Asmara. Dad has long passed on but he had friends in the base that he talked so highly about especially the Consul General in the 1959-1962 window when my dad had a serious accident and almost died but was saved thanks to the efforts of the consul general. The consul was transferred shortly after the accident but came back to check on my dad years later. Unfortunately, I never got to meet him nor do I have his name. I remember dad referring him as Mr Lauren or something along those lines. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. gmeresi "replace with at symbol" yahoo.com

George Brooks, Maj USAF Ret.

Hi, Having finally retired, I’m trying to put together a little history / lessons learned for my grandkids. Kagnew Station is a bit of that history and I would appreciate any help you can provide to identify the name of a hotel in Asmara where military aircrews stayed in 1969-1970 and maybe comment on some of the fading memories before they are completely gone. I had a brief, if distant, contact with Kagnew Station as a Second Lieutenant (USAF) assigned to the 6970 Support Group, Ft George G. Meade in 1965. After three years at the Puzzle Palace and finally convincing my wife that flying really wasn’t “unsafe,” I applied for pilot training. My first operational flying assignment was C-141’s out of Warner-Robins AFB, GA in 1969. One of my favorite memories includes staging out of Incirlik AB, Turkey, and flying “down range” into Asmara and Addis Ababa (then all in Ethiopia). They put us up in a hotel that was within walking distance of the Kagnew Station main gate and if anyone knows the hotel, I would like to add that name to my little history. I think we usually ate at the Oasis Club; the wait staff never wrote anything down and it became a game for an aircrew of six or seven guys to order the same entrée with a small variation in the side dishes to see if we could mix up the waiter; I never saw them miss an order. Another early memory included finishing dinner at the Station, walking to the gate where the aircraft commander and navigator hired one of the Gherry Carts and disappeared down the main street (Avenue Addis Abeba?). The rest of the crew decided to walk back to the hotel and see some of the local sights along the way (I recall some interesting “offers” to visit some of the local “establishments” during the walk). About the time we got back to the hotel the aircraft commander and the nav came racing up the street like Ben Hur, each driving their own Gherry Cart, drivers nowhere in sight. The horses were so thin you could almost see through them and the vision of a dead horse in the middle of the main drag and the whole crew locked up in the local jail brought a cold sweat to the uninitiated. The two chariot drivers reigned up at the hotel, the drivers appeared, a relatively lucrative “entertainment” fee was paid and the two drivers rode off smiling. One of my first trips included a stay in a hotel that had a buffet on the roof. One of the crew told me, “Don’t ask what anything is, if it looks good, try it.” Everything I tried was excellent, some a little heavy on the curry but still very good. I can’t remember if the hotel was in Asmara of Addis; I would appreciate any suggestions. And finally, I always wondered how the Army weighed their cargo; the high altitude and usually warm weather made takeoff a challenge some trips. The 141 just didn’t seem to climb as fast as the takeoff data indicated it should. There was a trip or two when we took off to the east and the ground climbed as fast as the aircraft. The crew would let out a collective sigh when we finally got over the edge of the plateau and the terrain started dropping off towards the Red Sea.

Duane Reynolds 69-72

Cheers Fellow Kagnewite! Found your webpage last night and my wife and I sat up 'till the wee hours in the morning exploring all the information and pictures there. What a wonderful job you have done. I commanded Air Force Detachment 324 on Kagnew as a young Captain from 1969 to 1972. The Det was located in the same building as CID and at the time was the largest Air Force unit on the African continent......thirteen men, two turtles, and a dog named Peanuts. My wife and I lived downtown, on Ghebremariam Street. We have many fond memories of our years in Asmara, and literally hundreds of items from there including many documents and pictures. My wife worked for Bruno Correlas at his Olivewood Curio Shop downtown, so we had the opportunity to get a lot of ethi trinkets at good prices. Living downtown provided us a great opportunity to trade old Chlorox bottles and old Playboys for LOTS of Ethiopian goods not generally found in curio shops. Our pictures were mainly 35mm color slides. For years I have planned to scan them to computer files, as many of them are beginning to deteriorate from age. Seeing all the great pics on your web site has encouraged me to get on with the project. We laughed a lot to see the picture of a battered grey '32 Fiat Baliela owned by someone at Kagnew in the mid 60's. I'm sure that is the same car that we bought in 1969, painted bright purple, and drove all over Asmara during our tour there. Besides lots of pictures, I have lots of documents/publications from that era, including the Kagnew brochure from 1970, Asmara Brochures, English/Tigrinia dictionary handed out to newcomers, Officers Wives Cookbook, maps of Ethiopia, several LP's of Ethiopian music, etc. Would copies or scans any of this "stuff" be of use to you? Duane Reynolds Colorado Springs, CO

Richard R. Kucharski 53-54

I was at Kagnew Station From Oct. '53 through Nov. '54. I was in the ASA. In 1994 I accompanied 15 other Eritrea service personnel back to Eritrea. There was change but it was still much like I remember it back in the fifties. I am still in touch with three other men that served during the time I was there. We got together in l996. I was on "A" trick. Kagnew Station is now home to veterans from the war against Ethiopian communism. The guard house is still there at the entrance, the headquarter builds and MP building just past the H.Q. is still there but everything else is gone. Now most of this area has ugly, what look like prefab two story apartment buildings. From what I was told the US Government erected these structure when the new base was completed in the late '50s. The new base that was constructed by the US government is still in tack but the lawn and landscaping are gone and it looks quite shabby. Of the three huge GE generators that were installed here only one is in full working order. I must say we were treated like VIPs and even met the president of Eritrea and his ministers at a reception held for us. I would like to hear from John Duane who was in Asmar in l954. I would like to hear from anyone that served during the time I was in Eritrea or if anyone has questions regarding the present. Best regards to all that served in Asmara. Richard R. Kucharski easinnott "at" earthlink.net

Guerry Eaton

I remember the Guard Detachment with Sgt. Furman Sowers, Chief Hensley, John T Hill, Bill Spaulding, Capt. Beaudette, John Cotter, Dennis Bohn, Don Greek, Jerry Reynolds, Phil Gillette, Kenny Thelin, Burleigh Munger, Bob Canell, Gene Hamsley, Kim Wadsworth, Dave Spragis, Ron Byrne, Lou Watkins, Sherifo Bates, etc. I was in the Guard from May, 1955 to July, 1957. Also, Buddy Anton, Leo Hartmann,Dewey Bates, Don Fay, Jerry Hunter and 7903 my favorite Jeep. Eatons2 "at" verizon.net

Wilbur D. 'Boogieman' Irving 73-74

Hello, I was there in Kagnew Station/NavCommUnit in 1973-74 in the U.S. Navy. My nickname was 'boogieman', so everybody called me 'boogie or 'boog'. From Oklahoma City and I remember having such a good time there, and plenty of girlfriends. One was named 'Fanta' and another 'Idele'. In fact, I still have a picture of Idele. I heard that she married a well to do American and went to the states with him. I was just amazed that this website existed. Remember Steve Yandek, and kinda remember Terry Winfrey. Had a good time and lots of good friends and pretty girls. I think Steve was from New Orleans. Always talking Mardi-Gras and gumbo and cajun cooking. I am living in Oklahoma City and working for Department of Corrections. Take care.......the boogie man.

John ?? 73

Hello Rick, I only just today found this website of yours on Kagnew Station. I was an enlisted man with the U.S. Navy in 1973 and I volunteered for duty at NAVCOMSTA/ASMARA. I was there working as an electronics technician at the satellite tracking and communications facility. I was there until the last major contingent of Navy personnel left in 1974. I have many memories of the time there. I also have a number of photographs. These are on 35 mm slides. I think that these may be reproduced for adding to your site. I will check on it. I also have photographs. I will locate these. One includes a photo of Haile Sallasie meeting with the military of NAVCOMSTA including the Commanding Officer, CDR Noggle. John in Maryville, Tennessee

Tom McCrea 67-68

Rick, This past week turned out to be a good one for finding old friends. Last week I found addresses for two guys that could possibly be friends that I had been looking for over the past couple of years. Bob Furgal (recently registered) is one and Harold (Buzzy) Shaw is the other. I sent Christmas cards to both along with two photos from 1967\68 and said "If this is you, please contact me. If not, have a nice Christmas". Last Friday at 11:15 pm I got a call from Buzzy Shaw. He had just gotten home from a five hundred mile trip and opened his card. He said it was the best card he had gotten in 40 years. A past wife\girlfriend had tossed a box containing all of his Kagnew memories and he has not had contact with anyone all these years. He was very grateful that I had looked him up. Buzz may not register since he has no computer, but I am sure that he would like to hear from old friends. If you want to list his info, it is: Harold C. Shaw 35449 Clinton St. Apt. 1 Wayne, MI 48184 Home (734) 721-0232 O5H 1967\68 Having had no reply from Furgal, I googled his name and found an article about an Air Force ROTC cadet named Rob Furgal. The article contained his email address, so I sent him a note and photo of my friend Bob asking if he might be related. The next morning I got a reply saying "That's my dad". By noon Bob and I had chatted on the phone and have swapped many emails since. I sent out and email to all the Kagnew guys in my address book, not all of whom I communicate with on a regular basis, and told them of the find, in addition to wishing them a Merry Christmas. I got a reply from Bob Sanchez saying that he looked forward to joining us at our next reunion. Bob is the one I told you about that had not replied to two previous emails. Good to hear from him! Thanks again for all your efforts. Tom

Ray Ivy 67-68

Good Morning, I just stumbled onto the Kagnew Station Web site and was thrilled to find it. My name is Alton R. Ivy and I was in the ASA at Kagnew Station from July 67 thru Dec. 68. I saw on one of the sites that you are looking for the Commanders of the Station, Well our Commander for the time I was there was Col. George R. Hamer and the Command Sergeant Major was CSM Fields. Can't remember his first name, I do have the book that they gave us when we arrived. I will look for it and post some of the pictures. I was a pay team chief of the Finance and Accounting Office while stationed there. I was in HQS. and HQS. Company. My rank at the time was E-5 Buck Sergeant. Our XO for the Office was 2LT Thomas Curcio. My Address is P.O. Box 362 Senath,Mo. 63876, phone number is 573-738-2415. I am very excited about this find. Thanks, Ray

Lynda Jo Swain 63

I was born at the base hospital on April 11th 1963. My parents were Joseph John Swain and Dolores Swain. Any stories you all out there would like to share would be appreciated. Apparently Joe Swain was a real partier in the day. He died May 22, 1975 at a very young 42 years old. Mums is still around doing well. I once saw a Kagnew sticker here in Pensacola but traffic was a mess. I am so glad I found this site courtesy of Navy together we served website in the May 2007 newsletter.

Victor Joseph Harp 70-71

Hi I was in Asmara (Kagnew Station) with the Army (Yes I was a Cook) from Dec. 10,1970 to May 05, 1971. Then they sent me to that other place. Victor Joseph Harp Thanks

Don Davis 50-51

Hey webmaster, I often think of the old days and wonder if any other vets of the 1950/51 era at Radio Marina are still in touch with you. If you have any e-mail addresses for such folks, I'd appreciate knowing them. I'd exchange old photos. I'm doing just fine myself at age 89. Hope you are well too. I appreciate your efforts on the pages. Regards D Davis (Col. Ret.)